Xray v3.2 introduces the Automated Steps Library which provides a centralized point to manage automated steps and allow easy refactoring of steps (Cucumber/Gherkin only).

Refactoring is the key word and is essential to maintain your automation code base sane.

Since steps are persisted and indexed, they can then be used for autocomplete purposes during the creation/update of Cucumber Scenarios/Backgrounds, facilitating their creation and avoiding duplicated or messy steps.

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Thus, a general setting, available in Global Preferences, allows you to globally opt-in or opt-out of this hierarchical way of organizing Tests.

Key concepts 

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The Automated Steps Library provides a per project organization for all the steps used in automated (Cucumber only) Tests and Preconditions belonging to that project.

In other words, the library provides a centralized point to manage all Gherkin sentences (i.e. the Cucumber "steps" ) of all the Tests and Preconditions of a given project.

Steps are automatically added to the Automated Steps Library of a project whenever a Cucumber Test/Precondition of that project is created or updated. Likewise, they're automatically removed if they are not being used by none of those entities, in that project.

Steps are always, and indirectly, automatically created in the library whenever creating/editing a Cucumber Test/Precondition. Steps cannot be created within the Automated Steps Library itself.

The Automated Steps Library provides the means to:

• refactor steps, by easily renaming them (i.e. changing their specification)
• refactor steps, by merging similar steps and avoiding duplicated specifications & associated code
• see which Tests/Preconditions are using a particular step
• label steps, so they can be categorized, to ease their management and the step autocompletion during Test/Precondition edition